Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India's highest civilian honour would be conferred to the BJP patriarch Lal Krishna Advani, days after the ‘pran pratishtha’ of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
PM Modi presiding over the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22 fulfilled the BJP's 34-year-old resolution that was adopted in Himachal Pradesh's Palampur.
Advani, was the party chief when the Mandir pledge was adopted. “When Narendra Modi consecrates the (Lord Ram's idol at the) temple, he will represent every citizen of our India. I pray that this temple inspires all Indians to adopt the qualities of Shri Ram,” the nonagenarian BJP stalwart who did not attend the consecration ceremony, had written in an article days ahead of the event.
It is impossible to imagine the Ram Janmabhoomi movement without Advani, whose September 1990 ‘rath yatra' changed the course of Indian politics.
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How Advani-led BJP jumped into Mandir movement
Founded in 1980, the BJP had a forgettable performance in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, winning just two seats. BJP heavyweight Atal Bihari Vajpayee also lost his election. In 1986, Advani became the BJP chief and the party turned towards Hindutva ideology.
The Ayodhya movement had gained nationwide attention after the Rajiv Gandhi government had ordered the locks of Babri Masjid to be opened for prayers. On November 9, 1989, the ‘shilanyas’ or foundation stone ceremony of the Ram temple was conducted, just five months before the BJP had adopted the resolution at Palampur.
The Ram Mandir resolution reaped dividends and the BJP's seat tally under Advani skyrocketed from two to 86. In 1989, Rajiv Gandhi lost power and the National Front formed the government under Vishwanath Pratap Singh with BJP extending support.
On September 25, 1990, Advani embarked on a ‘rath yatra’ from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya in UP to build the Ram temple, this amid the furore over the Mandal Commission report that recommended quota for OBCs in government jobs.
Founded in 1980, the BJP had a forgettable performance in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections following the assassination of Indira Gandhi, winning just two seats. BJP heavyweight Atal Bihari Vajpayee also lost his election. In 1986, Advani became the BJP chief and the party turned towards Hindutva ideology.
The Ayodhya movement had gained nationwide attention after the Rajiv Gandhi government had ordered the locks of Babri Masjid to be opened for prayers. On November 9, 1989, the ‘shilanyas’ or foundation stone ceremony of the Ram temple was conducted, just five months before the BJP had adopted the resolution at Palampur.
The Ram Mandir resolution reaped dividends and the BJP's seat tally under Advani skyrocketed from two to 86. In 1989, Rajiv Gandhi lost power and the National Front formed the government under Vishwanath Pratap Singh with BJP extending support.
On September 25, 1990, Advani embarked on a ‘rath yatra’ from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya in UP to build the Ram temple, this amid the furore over the Mandal Commission report that recommended quota for OBCs in government jobs.
Among those accompanying Advani was Narendra Modi, then the Gujarat BJP's general secretary.
"He was not very famous then. But at that very time Lord Ram had chosen his devotee (Modi) to rebuild his temple," Advani spoke about Modi in his article last month.
The aim for the yatra was to intensify the demand for the grand temple. However, Advani's yatra was cut short in Bihar when he was arrested in Samastipur on the orders of then Lalu Prasad government.
The BJP contested the elections in 1991 in wake of Advani's rath yatra. The party's seat tally increased further to 120 as it became the principal opposition party for the first time.
“I believe the phenomenal growth of the BJP between 1989 and 1996 owed a great deal to our support for the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. For us, Ayodhya will always remain a potent symbol of a national awakening,” Advani had said.
On December 6, 1992, karsevaks brought down the 16th century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, triggering widespread riots across the country. Twenty eight years later, Advani along with 31 other people were acquitted by a CBI court in a case pertaining to the mosque's demolition.
“For the BJP, participation in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was not prompted by religiosity. We were angered by the duplicity and double-standards of then Congress government and used the occasion to initiate a much-needed debate on secularism in India,” the BJP leader, who later served as India's deputy prime minister, said in 2004.
Finally in 2019, the Supreme Court in its judgment paved the way for the construction of the Ram temple.